The invention concerns a device for the treatment of substrates comprising a container filled with a treatment fluid, wherein at least one receiving device is provided for the substrates or at least one substrate carrier.
Devices of the aforementioned kind are known from DE 44 13 077 A1 and DE 195 46 990 A1 of the applicant of this present patent application and are also described in the German patent applications DE 195 37 879.2, DE 196 15 969.5, DE 196 16 402.8, DE 196 37 875.3 or DE 196 40 848.2 of the same applicant, which have not been published as of the filing date of this application. These devices kind have been successfully used in practice for the treatment of substrates, in particular semiconductor wafers, masks, CDs, CD-ROMs, other storage devices, for example, hard drives, etc., and for LED display panels. In particular, such devices have been used for the treatment of substrates with rinsing fluid and subsequent drying of the substrates. For more efficient and faster drying of the substrates, the so-called Marangoni method is utilized also in this context, wherein a gas, for instance, a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and nitrogen, that minimizes the surface tension of the treatment fluid is applied to the substrates as they are removed from the treatment and/or rinsing fluid, thus improving and accelerating the drying process. However, it has still been difficult and time-consuming to dry and remove reasonably fast, in particular, the last fluid or the last drops adhering to the lowest areas of the substrates.
From JP 8-45883 A2 a substrate carrier with two sidewalls is known, wherein the sidewalls have grooves for receiving the substrates. Within the grooves drainage holes are provided via which the fluid can drain from the grooves. The substrates are not secured at their lower area so that, as with the device described above, fluid may adhere thereat.
JP 7-249604 A2 shows and describes a washing device for substrates positioned in a cassette. The washing liquid is downwardly drained from the washing tank. Measures for removal of remaining liquid from the substrates or from the cassette are not disclosed.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,142 a device is known having in the grooves for receiving the wafers holes through which the treatment fluid during the treatment process in the fluid container can be either removed by suction or introduced in order to remove contaminants from the grooves. This document also does not provide any suggestion in regard to removal of remaining fluid after lifting of the substrates or the substrate carrier.
From JP1-312829 A2 a device for the treatment of semiconductor substrates is known in which an arm is provided that, after lifting of the substrate cassette, wipes across the underside thereof in order to remove adhering drops. The arm however is wet itself and distributes liquid across the entire underside of the cassette so that a considerable amount of residual liquid still adheres to the cassette.
From documents JP 4-317330 A2, JP 60-229339 A2 and JP 6-181196 A2 more devices for the treatment of substrates are known in which however the same disadvantages are observed, i.e., residual liquid still adheres to the substrates or the cassettes after the treatment.